ollie

I hear stories like this every week. My wife works on the psych ward at the hospital in Joplin. Mental health is a huge problem I think in this country. My youngest son has also had mental health issues and currently is in a home. It is sad actually.

Not that I am aware of. Although I haven't been over the bridge in a couple of months so don't hold me to that. I just highly doubt it though.

It sure is a pretty area to fish. I fished it a couple years back, but I wouldn't go back to just fish for trout. Funny story though, when I was researching where to stay and all of that, I called Beavers Bend Fly shop and asked for suggestions. The guy asked where I was from and when I was coming down. When I told him SW MO he seemed a little stunned. He literally tried to talk me out of going! He said, "why would you want to come here and fish when you have the White River system so much closer"? Lol I had a good time, and it is very beautiful down there. I caught a bunch, but nothing as big as the one you caught in the 2nd or third pic. Congrats, those are nicing lookd fish.

Basic same area as the other two attacks as well. It does make me wonder if they have been fed by humans or if they were just used to having people food available as a source when they were smaller cubs.

Like many, I can't remember my first one caught, but being with family when it happened. My dad was always buying the Fishing Facts magazine, so he was hooked and sold on nightcrawlers. I can vividly remember by uncle fishing with us though and he always out caught my dad and us. He always fished artificial lures. As a kid I couldn't understand why we didn't fish that way until I got older. Found out it was much cheaper to keep us kids fishing with worms than losing lures since we didn't really know what we were doing. That and I can remember being dragged out of bed around 5 in the morning to go fishing on the weekends. And if we hadn't caught our limit by noon, we were still out there till dark. As a kid I thought that sucked since I could see other kids out there water skiing and playing the water. We were just hot, miserable and not catching anything! It wasn't until I got older did I really get into fishing like I am now.

Love me some peanuts! I like the Costco brand the best though. Crunchy and salty! Bad for me I'm sure.

I used to fish the Beaver Tailwater quite often about 15-20 years ago but haven't since. I mainly remember there being a lot of stockers and the bait fisherman would show up at stocking. That and the bottom being completely scoured out. Oh yeah, that and I almost broke my leg one night when the fog was bad and I couldn't see anything in from of me!

rubbing alcohol, warm to hot water and apply with a bar towel or something similar. Wipe down with coffee filters. This is what we used in the restaurant that had mirrors from the booths to the ceiling and people were able to smoke in there. Man, that was sometime back! lol

I read about that yesterday. Very unusual for one to attack like that. Somewhere it said his son witnessed the attack as well. After they cut up the bear it will be interesting to see what their final judgement will be on why it attacked the man.

Bass found in just one US river officially named as new species Looks like a smallie to me! It is cool though.

When I was a kid my parents took us to Ozark Empire just about every year. I know they didn't go for the food or the livestock, or the music. Now that I look back on it, I can remember them signing up for anything that was free or a give a way! lol That must have been the reason we went. When I got a little older I took my kids to Tulsa for the fair several times and enjoyed it enough.

Years back my dad had a nine footer that he had converted from a fly rod to spinning. That would be another option for you. It did look goofy to me since the reel was all the way on the back of the rod though.

Good point. I find myself as I get older not really caring about how many I catch anymore. I just want to get out and enjoy myself. More fish and bigger fish just seem to be a bonus. After I had that roll over in my car a few years back, I have had a different perspective on a lot of things.

That is what I started out with and didn't have any success. Small Fluke, rooster tail, plastic craws and then the rebel craw. I didn't get any pics since none of them were that big. Had no idea I had caught an Ozark Bass. Just looked like a goggle eye that I normally catch around here! lol That is cool though.

Just a quick report on my fishing adventure this past weekend. My wife had the weekend off for a change and wanted to go somewhere. I knew she would want to go where there were flea markets and antique stores so me, being the savvy guy, suggested the Mountain Home area. She said, "pick a spot you can fish at as well". I am thinking this would be a good location since I knew there were all kinds of those stores around and I had been in that area many times before. I could hit up either the White or Norfolk tailwaters for some trout. After she had already booked a cabin at Rim Shoals, I wished I had chosen differently. I packed for trout fishing but failed to take into consideration that they would probably be generating a lot. A lot was an understatement. They never shut it off the whole weekend. My mistake for not planning that out well enough. 😒 I didn't want to hire a guide, and I wasn't about to go out alone on a rental boat so that option was gone. Enter Crooked Creek into the picture. I have never fished it before and I was somewhat not prepared for smallie fishing. I just had limited options in the tackle box for smallies. I went to WalMart and picked up some plastic craws in a color I wasn't that impressed with, but it was a done deal at that point. I drove over to the slab on Saturday morning and got there about 7ish in the morning. Only one other guy there at the time and he said he had caught one already. I fished there for a little bit and asked him some questions about the area. He was somewhat reluctant until he hit me up for a lure or two since he lost his! lol I gave him a couple of the plastic craws I bought and then a rooster tail. Since that slab isn't really big enough for too many people to fish from, I headed back to the car and found another spot close by. I had the whole area to myself, and I must say, the area was very pretty and well maintained. Heck, I know you guys in Arkansas pay higher taxes than we do, but most every AFG spot I have been to has been kept up really nice. I have a feeling I caught it at a good water level as well. I found the fishing to ok, but nothing spectacular. I ended up catching 4 smallies, one largemouth, and one goggle eye. Lost one that probably would have went somewhere around 14"-15" and had a huge blow up on the top from a rebel craw I had just thrown out near the bank. Although I question that one for only one reason. In a deeper pool, one that I couldn't see bottom, I saw a few big carp swimming around. The area where I threw that craw was right under a hanging branch of some kind that looked like it had berries on it. I have seen catfish and other fish hit top when those drop so it just left a doubt whether or not it was a bass or something else. I think the biggest of the day was probably around 11-12". It wasn't a bad experience at all and I would do it again if I get the chance. Although I would come better prepared next time! Oh yeah, I wouldn't recommend staying where we did either. The cabin was nice and well maintained, but the bed and any kind of cell service just plain sucked. When I left the slab area there were a lot of cars over there by the slab. Very popular spot like I thought it would be.